A Reason to Laugh
by Dark Renegade
Summary: Unknown to everyone, the reason he laughed was because his plan for revenge had only begun. Mainly Kristoph's POV, with one-sided Kristoph/Vera. Contains spoilers for Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. I may or may not continue this.


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A Reason to Laugh

By Renegade Raine

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When the "Not Guilty" verdict from the newly reinstated Jurist System was announced in the courtroom, in the case of the State vs. Vera Misham, the normally calm and composed Kristoph Gavin broke into an uncontrollable laughter that sent a chill through the entire room. It didn't last long though, as everyone immediately dismissed it as the laugh of a mad man at his wit's end. However, unknown to everyone, the reason he laughed was because his true plan for revenge had only begun.

Perhaps he had gotten so wrapped up in his quest for revenge against Phoenix Wright, that it had indeed driven him mad, but it did not mean that his plans had completely failed. It was true, even without decisive evidence that he was guilty without a doubt. The reason he now laughed like a lunatic in an asylum though, was because he wasn't the only guilty one in poisoning Drew Misham. In fact, the defendant charged for the crime was every bit as guilty as he was, although he was the one that made her that way.

Indeed, by day, he had taken Apollo Justice under his wing and taught him everything about the way of law. But at night, he would go to the Drew Studio, when he knew Drew was asleep (although he had to eventually teach Vera how to slip sleep medication into his coffee when her father became suspicious of his visits with his daughter) and socialized with her, earning him her trust, which made it all too easy for him to train her as his true protégé as he taught her about different poisons and educated her far better than her incompetent father ever did.

For seven years he acted as the girl's only friend, making it so she would follow his every command. Even if he thought her as a mere tool for his future plans, he was well aware of the intense admiration she held for him. He was pretty sure that the term for it was "Stockholm Syndrome", but as long as it benefited him, he didn't mind.

But now that the guilty verdict was handed down to him, it all came down to the girl. He had sent her the plans for her through mail, which would both free him from solitary confinement (along with a possible death sentence) and get revenge on Phoenix Wright for everything he had done to him.

Vera once said that Kristoph was like an angel and a devil, and he supposed that in her situation, it made a lot of sense. However, she was just the same as him. Her face was like a porcelain doll: beautiful, angelic, and devoid of any emotion. That, along with her naivety about the world might make her seem innocent to the outside world, but inside, Kristoph knew that she harbored a far darker side. Deep down inside, she blamed her father for being the reason why her mother left so many years ago. A couple of years later, her resentment grew more intense when he wasn't there to protect her when she was nearly kidnapped. Despite all of that though, she acted as his loving daughter until the day she found out that Kristoph was put in prison for the murder of Shadi Smith.

In a previous visit, Kristoph had told Vera that if anything should happen to him, it was because her father had a hand in it, as he wanted Vera all to himself. It was another one of Kristoph's pretty little lies, but the girl was easy to fool. He then told her that if such a thing ever happened, the only way they could ever see each other again was to have her father use a poisoned stamp he had given her on a letter that he would send to her studio later.

So although he produced the stamp, the fact of the manner was that it was actually Vera who had given the stamp to him, confirming that the devil was as present in her as it was in him. He didn't even care that he was the one found guilty of the crime, as everything that everyone else didn't know was just so god damned humorous to him. By the time the bailiff had slapped a pair of handcuffs on him, Kristoph had managed to quell his laughter, but as he was escorted out of the courtroom, a sinister grin was still plastered on his face, as he knew that the full extent of his revenge had still not been realized yet. But this time, Kristoph would not be happy until Phoenix Wright was dead and with Vera acting on his behalf, the man who had ruined his entire life would never see it coming.

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Author's Notes

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So…I usually write in the Bleach fandom, but I was bored at work, so I wrote this random musing in my head on a couple of Post-It notes. I just finished Apollo Justice yesterday, and for some reason, the last case seemed kind of suspicious to me. Kristoph just simply laughing was the biggest cause of suspicion for me, but even before that, the letter that Drew sent to Kristoph that said something along the lines of "Please take this spell off which you hold over my daughter" had me wondering if Vera had some kind of obsession with Kristoph, which would make sense as he was the first person to make her laugh and seemingly listened to her (although it was for a sinister cause).

At the part where you could choose between the Guilty and Not Guilty verdict, I seriously sat there for a minute, wondering if I should choose Guilty, as the letter really stuck out in my head (that, and the fact that I didn't want to send Kristoph to jail again, dammit!). However, I had the feeling the game wanted me to pick Guilty, so I just went with it, and that's where the really suspicious stuff starts. Not only does Kristoph laugh for some weird reason, but then Vera asks to see Phoenix Wright immediately. Of course, with my over reactive imagination, I cried conspiracy and dreamed up this little scenario, although my suspicions will probably never amount to anything. But I HOPE that I wasn't the only person that suspected something.

Anyways, I may or may not add extra stories to this, detailing interactions between Kristoph and Vera from the past (and future), as I'll probably only dedicate time to the possible installments at work (because I already have too much stuff I'm working on with fanfiction as it is), but I get bored at work A LOT during this time of the year, and I'm quite taken with Kristoph's character, so I'd say there's a good possibility that I'll add on at least a couple of chapters to this, but don't expect any epic length stories.


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